Tuesday, December 25, 2012

The recent
horrendous gang rape incident in Delhi has again brought people together in
large groups. There are protests across the country. It is really heartening to
see so many people coming together and raising ruckus in Raisina Hill. It
reminds me of the mass gathering during Anna Hazare’s round one. Sadly, all
this enthusiasm will die down soon.

In the last
couple of days, this is all I have been seeing in the papers, blogs and all TV
channels are discussing it non-stop. I am however amazed at the tangential
thoughts of various people and shallow oratory approach to this horrific deep
issue. Capital punishment? Yes, why not! But that will only happen when we
manage to convict people. That will happen when we are able to establish a
crime has been committed. That will happen when a suspect is caught and the evidence
is handled properly. That will happen when the courts give dates. That will
happen when the victim is able to lodge a FIR. A solution to this problem will
not appear with the swish of Dumbledore’s wand.

Rape as an
issue needs to be handled from a heterogeneous perspective.We have to find a long term deterrent solution to curb these incidences.
Yes, curb not eradicate because crimes will still be committed. The aim should
be to improve the statistics and lower the incidences, to make the society
safer for women and children. What we need today is for various segments of the
society, government and legal and enforcement agencies to come together to
address the issue and find a lasting resounding answer not some stop gap
arrangement or fire fighting in the short term.

There are
few broad areas where a lot of attention is needed.

1.Police Force

a.We need more
women cops at all levels. Every police station should have atleast 30% women
force and officers of both genders at each rank. These women should be in the
station 24 X 7 so that women can enter any police station without any fear or
apprehension. Filing FIR should be a straight forward process. No questions
asked, no bias, no judgment. Everything has to come out of detailed
investigation.

b.There has to
be hard core accountability for the police force. Today, police is often
accused of sloppy handling of cases or insensitivity towards complainants.
There is a need for a mechanism where even the police persons should be aware
that a sword dangles around their neck for not acting “appropriately”.

c.These people
need long term focused sensitivity training. They should learn to do their jobs
and not judge people on the basis of caste, creed, gender, sexual orientation,
social position or the clothes they wear. This is a difficult proposition
because it is deeply affected by point 6 – culture.

d.Making the
job prestigious. Joining the police force should be a strong prerogative of our
younger generation. We need more educated people in various ranks of the police
force. People who are intent on making a positive difference. The entire
recruitment, promotion, career path etc need to be revamped. We have to
modernize the force entirely.

2.Science
and Technology

a.Forensics!
Look at the technology that is being used in other countries. We need strong
forensics personnel. Even the course offered in universities and colleges need
to be revamped. How many police stations are equipped to handle swabs etc after
a rape has been committed to secure vital evidence? How many technicians are
available in each city to collect DNA samples and process them? How many
laboratories exist in the country for such crimes?

b.Technology
like close circuit cameras etc should be increased to improve the response time amongst the police force as well as crime
scene technicians or specialists.

c.Vehicles
also need tracking system to help in detection in case of a crime. There is
technology available, only it needs to be more accessible and cost – effective.

d.Regular
audits should be done to check adherence to protocol and effectiveness of the
process. Fire drill is not the only thing. Preparedness to respond to a rape
crime can also be a regular drill.

e.People
should be made aware how easily they can be caught if they have committed a
crime. It is a huge deterrent.

3.Legal Framework

a.Capital
punishment or death is not a solution. Punishment should be commensurate to the
crime. A rape victim does not die physically; she suffers her pain every living
day of the rest of her life. The equivalent punishment is lifelong (till death)
incarceration in solitary confinement and no reprieve, no pleas, absolutely
nothing! Chemical castration is also an alternative and the convicted criminal
should be publicly identified through media. The records of such people should
be made available in public through directories. Everywhere the person goes;
people should be able to identify him (them).

b.Government
has to work on changing the laws and making them more effective. The country is
still clinging on to century old laws and making random amendments. It is time
for total revamp!

c.The focus
should be on fast track handling of these cases on highest priority (other than
terrorism) and immediate punishment. The laws should be straight forward and
clear. The punishment should be exemplary. How many people would go to Saudi
Arabia and commit adultery or carry drugs?

d.The price
that one has to pay for raping another individual should be publicly announced
and notified. Every person in this country should be aware of their rights and
punishment. There has to be strong incentive for the enforcers for successfully
closing legitimate cases in record time.

e.Most
important is that people should know that they WILL be caught if they commit a
crime and then they WILL have to pay a hard price. Criminals in this country
should be hunted down and punished with public declaration of their fate.

4.Psychological Counseling

a.There is a
very negative attitude in our country towards counseling. It is looked down
upon and people never wish to speak about it in the open. There are very little
avenue for people to make use of these specialized services.

b.We need
support groups. These are the networks which allow victims to open up and
speak, reduce their pain and learn how to take control of their lives and
achieve. These groups can help embed the victims back into the society with
renewed purpose and drive their ambitions.

c.Counseling
should be available for people in general and it should be encouraged. Many
crimes can be averted if people get timely help and medical intervention to
handle their condition.

5.Safety

a.Many crimes
occur with women traveling alone at night. Companies should have more secure
transport facilities for their employees. Human resource teams should work with
employees to understand their issues, group them and find appropriate
solutions.

b.More women
cab drivers from airports and railway stations would be a boon. There is a wide
opportunity for entrepreneurs to focus into this segment.

c.Youngsters, college
going crowd, women in general need to build their own safety net. There is no
harm in going to a party, but try to return in groups instead of alone. Let
friends and family know about whereabouts. Yes, it is the job of the law
enforcers and government to protect us, but we also need to take initiative to
address the issue. Everyone needs to pitch in.

6.Society and Cultural Transformation

a.The toughest
and the most important area that needs attention is social and cultural
transformation. Our attitude towards a patriarchal society where men are always
alpha
is the root cause of this rape issue. Unless people in our homes change their
attitude and approach, much of the above changes will never occur. We have to
transform our thought process and evolve.

b.The
burgeoning population of this nation is the biggest cause. The number of law
enforcers per thousand is very less. It is also difficult to detect criminals
in such huge and migrant population where we do not have proper identification
system. Look at the state of the UID project.

c.Education,
employment and economic development are other areas which will have long term impact
in curbing the issue of rape. As society progresses, people become more
adherent to laws and social conformation. With education and jobs, they have
better purpose in life rather than engaging in such violent thoughts and
action.

d.Quite often
there are instances of people in important position making comments about women
instigating men to behave in the manner they do because of the way they carry
themselves or the clothes that they wear. We have become too prejudiced and
judgmental. Everything has to fit in a template that appeals us. In which
universe is a saree conservative to a pair of jeans and t-shirt? What we fail
to understand is that no woman wants such heinous behavior against them under
any circumstances!

Simply
gathering large masses and demonstrating is not going to solve the issue. People
need to introspect and understand the causes, the enablers. Rapes will continue
to be committed unless dealt with gravely. It is time for all walks of the
society to wake up and act intelligently. The woman who is getting raped is not
a statistic or someone we just read in the papers. You never know when it can
hit closer to home.

It is going
to be a long drawn prospect to devise a solution but steps have to be initiated
rapidly. Every solution can be broken down into three parts – short, medium and
long term. Let us start with the short term solutions. Make small achievements,
reach small milestones. Create a sense of direction for people. It is time for
action and not careless remarks on talk shows!

Maybe, for
2014 elections, people will look for every party’s actionable plan towards
curbing rape in the election manifesto. We are too tied up with food, water,
housing, jobs and electricity. There are other important matters that need
attention. But then again first we have to vote responsibly! And now I am
deviating and that is a different
discussion altogether! Be safe!

The difference between an owner
and employees in any kind of business is very straightforward and pivotal – one has a stake and the other does not.
It is the owner and his/ her family that puts in time, effort, money, personal
investments and savings to run the business. It is this stake which
differentiates the approach towards responsibility, accountability, ethical
practice, impacts culture and values and defines each person’s behavior and
attitude towards the business.

In a small business, usually
there is the owner and his/ her family, few staff and workers. The entire business
operates on thin margins with limited resources and quality of workforce. Finance
is always a critical matter and makes or breaks the prospects of a business. There
is a compromise in every possible corner to keep the ship afloat.

With these limitations, some
companies still manage to thrive where others wither. Liquidity is the key. The
companies who manage to do better have lower costs, better margins, less
wastage, more efficiency and productivity, better quality products and a strong
customer focus. But fundamentally, they have strong control system in place for
people’s contribution and output apart from other resources.

The controls ensure that ethics
are upheld, responsibility is rightly allocated and people are made accountable
for their actions. Misuse of power or authority, embezzlement of funds, frauds
and negative work culture are stemmed before they can wreak havoc on the
prospects of a company. If these factors are left unchecked, a single instance
of fraud is enough to eat away the core of the business leaving the owner and
remaining employees to suffer. Newt Gingrich said – You can't trust anybody with power. The solution is simple - the owner has to run a tight ship.

Management Information and
Control Systems

German Philosopher Hegel’s view
of control is achievement of goal through planned activities. Monitoring
business processes and performance on a regular basis (periodicity may differ
based on product, size of business and level of operation) to ensure strategic
objectives are being met is the baseline for designing a control system.

The idea of a control system is
to identify what should be monitored
like financial performance, cash flow, production logs, inventory levels, marketing
data, employee performance and contribution (to determine the rightful compensation and elevation). It should
also include external information like industry dynamics, growth rate,
improvements, competitors, innovation etc. These are also known as critical
success factors. The critical success
factors will need periodic tuning as the company goes through various stages of
its life cycle.

Once the parameters are
identified, the accepted levels and
deviations have to be established. For example: required level of
production maybe 100% but acceptable can be 90% too. Anything below that should
triger a red flag.

As the business operates on an
everyday basis, costs, revenue, production, quality, customers have to be
monitored. The owner needs to have access to this information in the form of well-defined formatted reports at fixed periods to monitor performance and
analyze the data for possible improvements. It also indicates how the
business is performing with respect to the overall growth of the industry and
other competitors. The owner’s prime concern is to understand the implication
of analysis of the data and look for hidden signs, opportunities and
discrepancies.

It is also important to give the feedback of this analysis to
the employees so that they can realign their performance. Exceptions should be
monitored more critically so that they do not become the norm. Feedback is
extremely critical. It tells us where we are heading and allows us to do course
correction. A company might have achieved sales of Rs. 50 lakhs in a particular
month. What does it mean – above average performance or under performance? But
if the collections are less then what happens to the status of cash flow?
Alternately, if sales is high and so are rejections – what does it signal? Owners
must understand the overall implication of all CSF and employees should be
communicated the same so that they are aware of the true position of the
company. It also means that there are internal checks to keep all functions on
their toes.

But designing the system is not
the end on itself. It has to be clearly communicated to all levels with proper
measurable parameters. There should be a synchronization of structure, systems
and strategy. The authority, responsibility, decision making should be aligned
to achievement of objectives and goals while giving due thought to employee
aspiration and motivation.

A crucial necessity for
management information and control is to guide leadership. In Peter Drucker’s
words - Effective leadership is not about making
speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.

Ten points on how to run a tight
ship

It is better to lead from behind
and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice
things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will
appreciate your leadership. ~ Nelson Mandela

Leadership in MSMEs means
ensuring the business is not just afloat but moving and making progress. It is
typical that when a company does well, everyone feels that it is due to their
involvement but a small hiccup is enough to send these people scouring for
cover and starting an all-out blame game trying to protect their own skin. Everyone
looks at the owner to tide over the situation. Here are ten potential options
which are extremely result-driven and effective if implemented diligently to help
owners run a tight ship.

1.Temper Power: Power is the most deceptive
force. People tend to act in unpredictable ways when in position of power.
Owners therefore should keep complete control over their business, their own
mind, decisions and finance. Author Devdutt Pattanaik wrote – “everyone wants to be indispensable, nobody
is.” Organization structure, authority and duties should be clearly
demarcated with layers of cross control and systemic checks to ensure people
and outcomes do not get derailed. No one apart from the owner should have
excessive power and authority.

2.Strategic Planning: Goals and objectives should be
set keeping multiple perspectives on the table. Everyone’s inputs from the
worker, staff, chartered accountant, lawyer, suppliers, to industry association
should be sought to get diverse insight about the business and the environment
in which it intends to thrive. This will help take better decisions through
comprehensive assessment of the forces at play.

3.Governance: The smaller the organization
the larger the need for good governance. Because the chance of fraud and mismanagement
is higher and detection is lower. Who better than the top management to create
a framework for governance to uphold ethics and values.

4.Budgeting: Capital is the most crucial
resource and its utilization should be managed with extreme precision and
tenacity. A strong budgeting system will act as a guiding light. Companies need
good software and IT systems to compile various data and create a unified
report to analyze budgeted versus actual expenses which owners must constantly
keep an eye on. Variance, ratios and overheads should be monitored on a
frequent basis.

5.Expense Control: This is the strongest option to
increase revenue. Many expenditure in the business can be avoided and
especially during healthy periods of business so that the company remains cash
rich. Salary and perks should be moderated. Large expenditures should be carefully
contemplated upon and justified. Decisions should not be taken to feed the
whims and fancies of a selected few.

6.Strong Operating Systems and
Framework: Companies
that are system and process driven tend to do better than one that is run
arbitrarily. Systems create clarity for everyone involved and people know what
has to be done and when. Systems have good feedback mechanism which creates a
self-controlled loop of control. People should know how to work, for what, what
results are expected, how to monitor for deviation, whom to report and how to
take corrective steps. This is helpful for quality. People should not be
empowered to randomly make changes in processes. Everything has to be
deliberated and justified.

7.Employee Focused: Invest in good employees,
compensate them adequately and create a positive work environment where
everyone is treated with respect. The whole is always greater than the sum of
parts. Mahabharata was not won by Arjun and Krishna alone. There were many more
soldiers and participants in various roles. If everyone did not perform, the
war would not have been won. Every employee has a role to play and help achieve
organization goals.

8.Information Network: A strong information system
should be developed to keep an eye on internal and external developments,
changes in the environment so that nothing takes the owner by surprise. Finger
should always be on the pulse.

9.Soft Skills: How an owner influences
behavior and attitude depends on how good is the communication. It is essential
that employees communicate effectively too to share their views and ideas. What
is the employees’ perception about the company, owners, peers, products? What
motivates strong leadership and team building? Strong communication builds
stronger trust and loyalty. People dealt on a demonstrated equitable ground are
better performers. It is vital that employers understand employee needs and
wants. With processes and systems that can be replicated by competitors too, it
is the strength of soft skills which makes the difference.

10.Feedback
System: Feedback
is an overused, overexposed word. Everyone talks about it but few actually
benefit from it. Human beings by nature are often not open to criticism,
comments or advice. They feel threatened. On the contrary, it is an opportunity
if rightly identified. Let us accept that not all feedback is worth our time
but in this minefield of advice and comments, therein lay few good insights.
Business functions in a complex environment. The more information we have it
might be overwhelming but simultaneously empowering to make good decisions. All
channels of feedback including proactive solicited ones to the corporate
grapevine should be tapped. It is often observed that owners listen to selected
few in the business who start becoming more powerful. They propagate a negative
power center and impact overall productivity. Open yourself to cross-checking
inputs and not toss it aside because you are careless, too trusting or
overconfident. Keep notes for reference and do not trust your memory. Owners
must allow everyone in the company to voice their opinion; there is no harm in
it. The choice to accept or reject is still retained by the listener.

Reflection

Business is not always and only
about emotions. It is about calculation, precision and agility. It is about
performance and results. Your wish to nurture your emotional needs can be
through philanthropy and discharging corporate social responsibility but mixing
it in business and trying to become performance oriented is an oxymoron.

A
business needs both formal and informal control. Keep the grapevine green and
vital. In small businesses everyone knows everything which is good and bad. It
is the owner’s skill on how to tap this information and make correct decisions.
Transparent clear methods and strong open feedback system will help the company
go a long way.

The foremost focus should be
vitality of the business and not just needs of a particular customer or
employee welfare. We exist when the business exists. If the company is healthy
and performing then we have the scope for further actions. Handling human
resource in business is most complex. Owners have to maintain a fair amount of
distance to direct people and make them perform. It ensures that no one becomes
complacent and emotional in their judgment. People are always on the look out
to take advantage of weakness and loopholes. History is replete with examples. Owners
must remain at the helms of affair and be on top of all situations while
continuously monitoring bottom-line. With the best of the intentions, systems
and processes, MSMEs do not have the luxury of decentralized leadership in the
Indian context. There may be exception but they are “exceptions” far and few. That is why owners must be in total control
of the business and exude strong character.

I have only one counsel for you - be master. French General
Napoleon Bonaparte